The present invention relates to a method for preparing retort Tofu capable of withstanding a long term storage and in particular to a method for preparing retort Tofu excellent in resiliency.
There have been proposed a variety of methods for preparing so-called retort Tofu which comprise charging soy milk, to which a coagulating agent is added, in a heat-resistant container, sealing the container and then subjecting the container to a retort treatment to thus simultaneously sterilize and coagulate the soybean milk and to thereby form Tofu in the sterilized state. For instance, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (hereunder referred to as "J. P. KOKAI") No. Sho 60-149354 discloses, in Example 1, a method for preparing retort Tofu using soy milk passed through a 100 mesh sieve and J. P. KOKAI No. Sho 63 304961 discloses a method for preparing retort Tofu which comprises a great amount of insoluble particles having a particle size of not more than 150.mu.. Moreover, there are disclosed methods for preparing retort Tofu in J.P. KOKAI Nos. Sho 59-88058, Sho 60-87751, Sho 61-58551 and Sho 62-257358.
However, when the Tofu is subjected to a retort sterilization treatment in which the Tofu is treated at a high temperature of 110.degree. C. or higher and a high pressure in order to impart long term storability to the Tofu, the foregoing methods suffer from a problem that they can provide only Tofu having low quality and low resiliency.